Wonders of Ajanta Ellora

Overview

The Ajanta and Ellora Caves are the largest rock-cut cave monuments in the world, featuring Buddhist, Hindu and Jain monuments in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India.  According to UNESCO, these are masterpieces of Buddhist religious art that influenced the Indian art that followed. Ajanta caves (Approx 30) were built in two phases, the first phase starting around the 2nd century BCE, while the second phase was built around 400–650 CE, according to older accounts, or in a brief period of 460–480 CE, according to later scholarship. Ellora caves dating from the 600–1000 CE period. Ellora Cave 16, in particular, features the largest single monolithic rock excavation in the world, the Kailasha temple, a chariot-shaped monument dedicated to Lord Shiva. The Kailasha temple excavation also features sculptures depicting the gods, goddesses and mythologies found in Vaishnavism, Shaktism, as well as relief panels summarising the two major Hindu Epics. This site is a protected monument in the care of the Archaeological Survey of India, and since 1983, both the Ajanta and Ellora Caves have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.   There are more than 100 caves at the site, all excavated from the basalt cliffs in the Charanandri Hills, 34 of which are open to the public. These consist of 12 Buddhist (caves 1–12), 17 Hindu (caves 13–29) and 5 Jain (caves 30–34) caves, All of the Ellora monuments were built during Hindu dynasties such as the Satavahana, Gupta Empire, Maurya Empire and  Rashtrakuta dynasty, which constructed part of the Hindu and Buddhist caves, and the Yadava dynasty, which constructed a number of the Jain caves. Funding for the construction of the monuments was provided by the royals, traders and the wealthy of the region. "

Location Map

Detailed Itinerary

Inclusions & Exclusions

Important Disclaimers

• Minimum 2 person required for the booking.
• Monument entry fee not included.

Starting from

Includes taxes and fees. Flights not included unless specified.